Over the last few years as pastor, I've been working with a number of organizations and drawing from my own priestly experience to set a vision for our community. A vision
Over 2000 years ago, God sent an angel to a teenage girl and nine months later, humankind came face-to-face with God. God had united Himself to us so that we would know a depth of love we could only dream about, and we call it the greatest moment in human history. However, an even greater moment was to follow. Roughly 33 years later, this God-man called Jesus, did something no one else could do: destroy death. And not just for Himself but all who believed in Him. Death would have no more power (Rom 6:9). This was the greatest moment in human salvation. But today I can’t help but wonder… ‘Do either of these moments matter?’
News outlets report daily far too many instances of violent crime. It changes the way people live their lives, some refusing to leave their homes at night. Is the world a cruel and fearful place? Is there a place we can turn for answers in moments of anxiety or despair? We live in a world full of churches, but do they give us the sense that God is real and attentive to us or are they just buildings common to every city or town, evidence of a time gone past? How else could it be?
The word parish comes from two Greek words, “para” and “oikos.” “Para” means “alongside of” or “next to.” Think of the word parameter. It can also mean something that “acts as protection against something.” (Think of the word parachute.). “Oikos” means “household” or “home.”
Combining these two words helps us understand that the parish’s purpose—to exist alongside our eternal home in Heaven. It serves as a refuge, a place of protection to provide rest and relief. And a parishioner is one who belongs to that community on a pilgrimage back home.
I dream of a parish that everybody wants to be a part of. A place where all people, no matter who they are or what they have done, feels accepted and loved by God, on a journey of true conversion in their lives.
I would love to see outsiders walk into our parish and see us; people praying deeply and feel the living presence of God, especially in the Tabernacle. A place where intimacy with God is found and deepened. In a world where more and more people are suffering from anxiety and loneliness, listening to God’s voice in the stillness of their hearts gives a peace that surpasses all understanding (Phil 4:7). In a world where people question their identity and their life’s purpose, they hear God’s plans to give them a future full of hope (Jer 29:11).
I imagine a parish where parishioners feel safe to share their struggles with one another in small groups because they trust the person next to them is also striving (albeit imperfectly) to live up to their Christian dignity. A place where no one feels isolated because our parishioners have an eye for those who feel like they don’t belong. True authentic friendship is forming Christian friends who challenge and support one another to live out a virtuous life—-to be the best version of themselves.
I long for our parish to be known for evangelizing. A place where people have experienced the transformative power of God’s love, who know how and want to share it. They take the gifts God has given them and bring others into that experience. Having developed a relationship with God in prayer and with the support of our community, each of us can then bring the light of what we have received to those who do not know Him. A parish’s mission is Christ’s mission given to the disciples before He ascended into Heaven in Matt 28:19-20.
I envision a parish where the liturgy brings us out of this world and into a higher one. Lifting us out of ourselves and into Heaven, the liturgy is the place where Heaven and Earth kiss. Where people worship God so passionately that when the Our Father is prayed, the people who live across the street hear it and are inspired. Our experience on Sunday provides the spiritual ground or footing that gives us renewed energy and strength throughout the week.
I dream of a parish that needs to build more confessionals because people have decided to stop living in the shame of past sins and to receive God’s healing love in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
I dream of a parish where young people who struggle with self-understanding can discover God’s goodness and get answers to their deepest questions. Who am I? Where did I come from? Where am I going? What’s the meaning of my life? And in light of such questions, a place where they have experienced the words of Jesus, “I came that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10).
This dream can become real because we will rely on God’s Spirit at work in all His children. And because each of us will encounter the love of God in our lives, we will desire to use our gifts and talents as a community to respond and build this dream. And this all begins with (and is sustained by) our encounter with God.
We are believers. We believe the greatest moments in human history and in human salvation and in our own lives have nothing to do with the latest technological advancement. We believe in God. And we believe He has given the people of our parish a mission to be disciples and to make disciples so that all may find the fullness of life that Jesus has promised.
Sincerely yours in Christ,
Father Derek